October 25, 2013
Re: The Proposal to Cut off Water for Unpaid
Sanitation Bills by the New Orleans City Council [1]
His Honor, the Honorable Mitchell Landrieu, Mayor, City of New Orleans [2]
The Honorable, Jackie Clarkson, President, Councilmember-at-Large [3]
The Honorable, Stacy Head, Councilmember-At-Large [4]
The Honorable, Susan G. Guidry, Councilmember, District A [5]
The Honorable, LaToya Cantrell, District B [6]
The Honorable, Kristen Gielsen Palmer [7]
The Honorable, Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, District D [8]
The Honorable, James Austin Gray, District E [9]
More than one-third of New Orleanians don't pay their garbage fees,
which cost the city $8.5 million in 2011, according to a July report released
by New Orleans Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux.[10]
Please forgive any failure on my part to break protocol, but
the matter that has been proposed before you is important enough that I will
exchange with you a proper protocol in exchange for your reviewing any proposal
to cut off water to citizens in the New Orleans area who are currently, or who
in the future, may be delinquent on their sanitation bills.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am one of those
persons whose sanitation bill is delinquent.
Here are my suggestions that I ask that you take under consideration and
provide for a more humane approach to the citizens of New Orleans .
My suggestions are:
- Incorporate the past due difference into the Sewerage and Water Board Bill, providing a running total on the delinquency until paid in full or repealed.
- Going forward, incorporate the sanitation costs into the one bill on the front end, notating on the citizens’ copy, for accounting purposes, the difference owed for proper accounting records. You have the technology and the talented personnel to accomplish, if you want to.
Repeal Sanitation Tax/Fee
Additionally, I wish to protest
the increase in sanitation fees on the citizens of New Orleans and believe that we are being
made to pay this tax for the purpose of supporting additional personnel of the
Mayor’s Office. These are the same
citizens from under the previous administration whom the City Council believed
would suffer an undue burden by paying any additional taxes. There has been no noticeable improvement in
the gross income of the citizens of New
Orleans that necessitates increasing this tax while
also increasing the payroll of the mayor with at least 4 Deputy Mayors.
I ask that the City Council repeal
the Sanitation tax of $24.00[11] a
month back to its previous amount of $12.00 effective the next meeting or
sooner, of the full City Council.
Thanks for your attention, and I
look forward to the council giving ear to and taking action in favor of the
citizens of New Orleans .
Wayne Dan Lewis, Sr.
The Coveted Commandment Blog.
[2] Mitch
Landrieu website: http://www.nola.gov/mayor/
[3] Jackie
Brechtel Clarkson email: jbclarkson@nola.gov
[4] Stacy
Head email: shead@nola.gov
[5] Susan G.
Guidry email: sgguidry@nola.gov
[6] LaToya
Cantrell email: lcantrell@nola.gov
[7] Kristin
Gielson Palmer email: kgpalmer@nola.gov
[8] Cynthia Hedge-Morrell email: chmorrell@nola.gov
[9] James Austin Gray email: jagray@nola.gov
[10]
Webster, Richard A. NOLA.com Oct 24,
2013. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/landrieu_administration_propos_1.html
[11] $24.00
City Sanitation Fee- http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/01/new_orleans_city_council_to_vo_1.html
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